Sunday, January 27

It was a pretty productive weekend. Not only did we bottle a batch of stout beer, but I also whipped up a batch of spiced rum. And, I made Monterey Jack cheese today (and, yes, I know you can buy cheese at the store). Cheesemaking is a long, drawn-out process, so I caught up with my housecleaning between steps. I was hoping to do some Everyone Drinks-related work this weekend, but did not get around to it, but Brian worked on a few things for me so I'll call it even.

Saturday, January 26

This movie was amusing, but it was not the laugh-fest I thought it was going to be. Frankly, I expected more from Seth MacFarlane. Don't get me wrong, it was a decent flick, but I just had higher hopes for it.

Monday, January 21

Surprisingly, the guys enjoyed this movie--I wasn't sure that would be the case. There were enough fight scenes to keep them interested. I thought it was ok but not great. I'm not a fan of Kristen Stewart, but I do like Charlize Theron and Chris Hemsworth. Unfortunately Stewart played Snow White, so there was a lot of her in the movie. But, there were some cool effects and it was a unique telling of the story of Snow White.

Sunday, January 20

We're on a roll. We did manage to make the batch of stout last weekend. And, we bottled my lambic last night. I drank some of it and it was delicious. (And what a pretty color, too!) I can only imagine that carbonation will make it even better. We have our next recipe picked out and the ingredients bought already (it's going to be a Pete's Wicked Ale clone). Now, all we need is a half decent day weather-wise in order to accomplish the task.

Thursday, January 17

Unlike most of the other infected people out there, I seem to have caught a bad case of the lazies. I find myself sitting around in the evenings and not getting anything done. Of course, I don't really have all that much stuff to do, so I suppose that is part of it, but there are definitely things I could be doing.

Maybe I should add a bunch of stuff to my "to do" list for some motivation. I hope this doesn't last long.

Friday, January 11

I failed to mention this before, but Brian and I brewed a Belgian lambic (specifically, a clone of Lindemans Framboise) over Thanksgiving vacation. This was the 3rd all-grain brew that Brian has made since getting his new beer brewing rig. If all goes well tomorrow, we'll be making the 4th (a stout).

Anyway, the lambic is looking pretty good. We racked it last weekend and it tastes good already. It'll be ready the 2nd weekend in February. I can't wait to try it!

Sunday, January 6

I'm pretty sure I saw this movie before and I know Brian did, but we watched it again for a Family Movie Night. It was enjoyed by all--what a great story! Of course, the book was way better, but that's usually how it goes.

Saturday, January 5

The last time I took Jake to the dentist, he informed us that Jake has a baby tooth that hasn't come out yet (and the adult tooth is formed and ready to come in). He was concerned that there wasn't room for the adult tooth so he referred us to an orthodontist. We visited the orthodontist yesterday, and you guessed it--Jake needs braces. His teeth aren't too bad, but there is some crowding and braces will fix that. If the baby tooth doesn't come out on its own, it will need to be pulled, so Jake's working on that. And, I'm working on the payment plan--braces are expensive!

Favorite television: Without a doubt, The Walking Dead (this has a good chance of being my favorite series ever). I also highly enjoy Breaking Bad. While it was a little slow last year, it was probably all setup for the final season, for which I have high expectations. And, I started watching Sons of Anarchy at the end of the year. Not sure how this will rank in the grand scheme of things, but I do enjoy looking at Jax Teller for now.

Favorite music: I'm still hung up on the Foo Fighters. I don't think I bought any "new" music in 2012. 2013 holds much promise, though.

We went to Forest County for vacation and we had so much fun we're going back in 2013!

It was a great year for the garden. The weather got nice in March and pretty much stayed that way for the rest of the season. I canned a bunch of stuff (but not enough tomatoes). Jake made me a couple of raised garden beds so I was able to plant even more stuff (and, in one of the raised beds, I planted a fall garden in a hoop house, too).